The San Pedro High football team has gone through the rigors of the 2012 regular season. Now they're after higher stakes and you can't get any higher than the CIF-Los Angeles City Section playoffs.

With rival Narbonne of Harbor City as the overwhelming favorite to repeat as the champion, the pressure seems to get to teams hoping to dethrone them, even though all the pressure is squarely on the top-seeded Gauchos (10-0), ranked No.2 in the state according to MaxPreps.com, who have designs on a state bowl bid. Of course Narbonne would need to win the City title again to be eligible for a bowl.

Teams are waiting in line ready to dethrone them, three of which includes No.2 Crenshaw of Los Angeles, No.3 Venice, and No.4 Carson, who gave the Gauchos a severe scare on October 5 in a Marine League opener Narbonne was fortunate to pull out, 26-20 at Carson High.

San Pedro was awarded with the No.6 seed of the playoffs and will face No.11 Fairfax of Los Angeles on Friday at San Pedro High in the first round of the CIF-LACS Division I playoffs.

The Pirates, who endured two back-breaking losses in a row to both Carson and Narbonne in October, have since revitalized and come into the playoffs with back-to-back blowout wins over Harbor Area neighbor Banning of Wilmington and Washington Prep of Los Angeles and are seemingly in a dangerous roll. The defense of the Pirates is good enough to handle such pressure... but a rematch proves to be their Achilles heel in the past.

Fairfax (6-4) placed third in the Western League behind Venice and No.10 Palisades, the only two teams that beat the Lions in league play. Two years ago, the Lions won the City Section Division II championship.

San Pedro defeated Fairfax, 29-0 at San Pedro High back on September 21, and now they go at it again.

At this point in the year now that the playoffs have arrived, it's win or go home time, and no one should know that better than San Pedro, who have made it to seven City Section finals under head coach Mike Walsh, claiming five championships, of course, one of them was shared with nemesis Narbonne in 2008.

Senior running backs Darrell Santiago of San Pedro and Marquis Brown of Fairfax will pace both teams offenses but this game may hinge on the play of San Pedro senior quarterback Jimmy Bryant, who made his first official start against the Lions after starting quarterback Nick Johnson suffered a season-ending ACL injury in a 36-13 victory over Locke of Los Angeles.

If the Pirates are successful in advancing, a potential quarterfinal showdown with Venice awaits, and two years ago in a similar situation, the Gondoliers defeated San Pedro, 35-10 in a game that is vaguely remembered by what happened after the game ended... a postgame brawl with a dash of pepper spray from the Los Angeles School Police.

Look for the 2012 City Section playoffs to provide it's usual dash of drama, and the two out of 16 teams who survive it all will face off for the championship on Saturday, December 1 at East Los Angeles College.

It's go time.

Here's the full bracket for the 2012 CIF-Los Angeles City Section Division I football playoffs.

No.1 Narbonne (10-0) vs. No.16 Locke (4-6); No.8 Garfield (5-5) vs No.9 Taft (4-6); No.5 Birmingham (8-2) vs. No.12 Gardena (7-3); No.4 Carson (4-6) vs. No.13 Roosevelt (8-2); No.3 Venice (8-2) vs. No.14 Sylmar (8-2); No.6 San Pedro (7-3) vs. No.11 Fairfax (6-4); No.7 Dorsey (6-4) vs. No.10 Palisades (6-4); No.2 Crenshaw (9-1) vs. No.15 Arleta (8-2).

First round games are Friday at 7pm; Quarterfinals are Friday, November 16 at 7pm; Semifinals are Friday, November 23 at 7pm; Championship is Saturday, December 1 at East Los Angeles College (time TBA).